How Six Men Got on in the World (Grimm)
Short summary
A soldier received only three farthings after being dismissed from service. Angry, he went into the forest and recruited five extraordinary men.
His companions could uproot trees, shoot a fly's eye from two miles away, create wind by blowing, run faster than birds, and cause terrible frost with a cap.
They challenged a king whose daughter would marry whoever beat her in a race. The runner competed for them but fell asleep halfway after fetching water. The princess emptied his pitcher and ran ahead. The huntsman saw this from the castle.
The King's daughter shall still not prevail against us... he shot so cleverly, that he shot the horse's skull away from under the runner's head without hurting him.
The runner woke, refilled his pitcher, and won. The king tried to kill them in a heated iron room, but the frost man saved them. They demanded gold, took the entire kingdom's treasure in a giant sack, and escaped.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The soldier gathers five companions with extraordinary abilities
A brave soldier who had served well in war received only his dismissal and three farthings when the conflict ended. Filled with anger at this meager reward, he declared:
If I can only meet with the right people, the King will yet have to give me all the treasure of the country.
In the forest, he encountered a man who had uprooted six trees as easily as pulling corn stalks. The soldier asked him to become his servant, and the man agreed, first taking one tree to wrap around the other five as a bundle for his mother.
They soon found a huntsman kneeling with his gun ready to fire. When asked what he was shooting, he replied that he intended to shoot out the left eye of a fly sitting on an oak branch two miles away.
The three men walked on and discovered seven windmills spinning rapidly despite no wind. Two miles further, they found a man sitting in a tree, blocking one nostril and blowing through the other to power the distant windmills.
Next they met a runner standing on one leg, having removed the other. He explained that he ran faster than birds could fly and had to remove one leg to prevent running too fast. Finally, they encountered a man wearing his cap tilted on one ear, who warned that straightening it would create a terrible frost that would freeze and kill all birds in the air.
The race challenge and the runners victory
The six companions arrived at a town where the king had proclaimed that whoever could defeat his daughter in a race would marry her, but the loser would be beheaded. The master presented himself but said his servant would run for him. The king warned that both their lives would be forfeit if they lost.
The race required fetching water from a distant well. The runner strapped on his second leg and began. He reached the well instantly, filled his pitcher, but became fatigued on the return journey. He lay down to rest, using a horse's skull as an uncomfortable pillow to ensure he would wake soon. The king's daughter found him sleeping, emptied his pitcher, and ran ahead. The sharp-eyed huntsman saw this treachery from the castle and shot the skull away from under the runner's head without harming him. Awakening to find his pitcher empty, the runner refilled it and arrived home ten minutes before the princess.
The kings trap in the iron room fails
Furious that his daughter had been defeated by a common soldier, the king plotted to eliminate the six men. He invited them to feast in a room with iron floors, doors, and barred windows. Once they were inside eating, he ordered the doors bolted and commanded his cook to light a fire beneath the room until the iron became red-hot.
As the room grew unbearably hot, the frost man realized the king's evil intention. He straightened his cap and declared:
I will cause a frost to come, before which the fire shall be ashamed, and creep away.
Immediately, such a fierce frost descended that all heat vanished and the food froze solid on their plates. When the king opened the doors hours later, expecting to find corpses, all six men stood alive and well, asking to be let out to warm themselves. The king saw that a fierce fire still burned beneath the iron room but had been powerless against the frost.
The bargain for gold and escape with the kingdoms treasure
Desperate to rid himself of these troublesome guests, the king offered the master as much gold as he wanted in exchange for renouncing his claim to the princess. The master agreed, requesting only as much gold as his servant could carry, and promised to return in fourteen days. The king had all the tailors in the kingdom sew an enormous sack for fourteen days. When the strong man arrived carrying this house-sized bundle, the king became alarmed at how much treasure he might lose. Even after loading seven thousand carts of gold and the oxen that pulled them into the sack, it was still not full. The strong man took the entire wealth of the kingdom.
Enraged, the king sent two regiments of cavalry to pursue the six men and reclaim the treasure. When the soldiers demanded surrender, the blower closed one nostril and with the other blew the entire force into the sky over distant mountains. Only one brave sergeant with nine wounds was spared and sent back to warn the king.
Realizing he was defeated, the king let the six companions go. They returned home with their riches, divided the treasure among themselves, and lived contentedly until their deaths.